Summer of '73
by Atana
Summary: A Snips and Spirals Story. Teenage best friends Severus Snape and Britomartis Vox are apart for the summer, and life isn't easy. Owl Post can really help.
1. Default Chapter

"SUMMER OF '73"  
  
A Snips and Spirals Fanfic:  
  
Text by Lady Tesser and Atana  
  
Illustrated by Atana (see bio page for link)  
  
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Teenage best friends Severus Snape and Britomartis Vox are apart for the summer, and life isn't easy. Owl Post can really help. --------------------  
  
Dear Spirals,  
  
Made it home in one piece. You're probably still on the train to London while I write this. I miss you already.  
  
Father was not home when I arrived, which I'm both relieved and terrified about. Relieved because I did not have to face him at once, and terrified because I will have to face him when he gets home later - and he's rarely ever in a 'dull anger' when he gets home.  
  
Mother looks terrible. She has a bruise on her cheek, definitely from Father's cane, I recognize the pattern. It hurt her to smile but she did anyway; she took me inside quickly and sat me in the kitchen with her, her asking about school and everything while the house-elves made lunch for me.  
  
I told her about you - she says you sound wonderful and she wishes she could meet you. She asked about Headmaster Dumbledore and Miss Price and others she knew back when she attended. It was nice talking to her about school, although I had to gloss over everything that the Marauders did ... and even our little paybacks to them, which I think Mother may have enjoyed hearing about, but I didn't want to tell her why we had to do it. Anyway, Mother sends her love.  
  
It'll be late by the time Father gets home. Maybe I can be in bed by then ... or in the closet. But then ... he'll find me and slap me around for not being man enough to meet him when he comes home.  
  
I wish I was with you on the train! We could both go to Crete and I can keep you company! We'll ride those winged-horses on your island and run about in the sunshine; I've never really got to play in sunshine. It's always so cloudy here in Whitshire, so dark. I jsut want to run - run as hard and as fast and as long as I can under the sun. You said the sun is strong and that you can feel it right on your skin - I never felt that. The closest I've felt to that is sitting practically over a fire but it's not really the same, is it?  
  
I'm in my room right now. I think I've grown a couple of inches since I left, my bed seems a lot shorter than it was last summer. Also feels odd not wearing a robe, just trousers and a tunic. Do you really not wear long- sleeve tunics on Crete, Spirals? I can't imagine that. It must be wonderful, though.  
  
By the way - before I forget - I already put up those drawings you did in art class. It's strange seeing splashes of color all over my room like this - your picture of us on Crete is the best, I think. You in turquoise and me in orange (of all colors!) and posing in front of the palace - if the palace looks like that, I'd love to see it. Then there's the spirals and snakes and bulls and all those other still-pictures you drew. So much color in here, I don't know if I'll be able to sleep!  
  
I miss you terribly. It seems like a chunk of me has been ripped off and lost. How did you do that? You're my best friend, Spirals, you're my only friend. I miss you a lot.  
  
No, I'm not crying - put your robe down and don't try to wipe the tears! There aren't any tears! And now that I wrote all that, I really should throw it away. I'm fourteen-years-old, I have no excuse to carry on like this!  
  
I still miss you. Three months is a long time. You'll owl me everyday, won't you? You have to keep me sane.  
  
Mother's calling me. Have to go. Miss you.  
  
Your friend,  
  
Snips  
  
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My dear Snips,  
  
How wonderful to come home and find a letter from you!  
  
The train ride was boring after you got off. Narcissa Black insisted on sitting in our cabin and chatting about everything that doesn't interest me. Like Cirrhosis Black is your bane, his cousin is mine. Ugh. At least she only blabs - I think tossing Medusa at her should shut her up, but I don't want Narcissa-cooties all over my snake. Blagh.  
  
After that was the mundane train, then the sail with Adonia, Artemisia, Phaedra, and Kyros (he was a pain - Mr. Graduate calling all of us 'children'), now I'm back in my room. My very own room! Phaedra and I always had to share, but my brother Klemendis has established himself in the mental health profession and had moved out, so all of us left at home have our own rooms now. Nerissa had set up my room and it's very nice. It looks out over the ocean and everything and has a little balcony to stand on.  
  
My sister Isaura is getting married at the end of the summer. She helped raise me (in fact, nearly every single sibling helped raise me), so I'm going to be helping get everything ready for the wedding and feast. She wants me to be the flower maiden since I'll be continuing my Priestess study and will be qualified as a Junior Priestess by that time. This should be fun.  
  
I haven't seen hide nor hair of Mother or Father yet, which doesn't surprise me. I'd still think they'd bother to greet me considering it costs money to send me to Hogwarts. Heh, who knows? If I ever grow up and get married and have a family, my babies aren't EVER going to be ignored no matter how many I have. So there.  
  
I'd love to meet your mother, Snips! When can I come up to visit? I'm sure we can have fun without sunlight or Potter and his Whores to hex ... Who am I kidding, I want you down here, too. I missed the sunlight so much - right now, I'm sitting in a patch of sunlight on the floor in my room as I'm writing this. Feels good, it really does. Yeah, I need to drag you down here and get some color in your face. You'll love it here, Snips.  
  
I miss you a lot, too. This is going to be a weird summer not having you right next to me, giggling as we plot ways to embarrass the Drool Brigade. I kinda miss the smells, too - bizarre, huh? I miss the smell mixture of potions and smoke and your hair when we're sitting together. It's really weird.  
  
My friend Dion is calling me out, he wants to go carpet riding around the island and hear about Hogwarts ... he's a nice guy, but he's SUCH a boy. (Unlike you - you're such a Snips.)  
  
Write more later. Miss you.  
  
Always your friend,  
  
Spirals  
  
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Spirals,  
  
Oh, Gods, it's so good hearing from you. As soon as I heard the carriage, I flew downstairs and made sure I was presentable to Father.  
  
Father came in, looked me over, pushed my shoulder with his cane, and commented I needed a shampoo and a haircut. He must be in a good mood because he only called me a worthless carcass twice before he went to his study.  
  
I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop, though. I'm at my desk. I just noticed something. Oh, I did do that. Sorry, I had forgotten that when I was ten I had carved into my desk the words 'Please, Gods, grant me to live another day and keep my mother safe'. I have vague memories of that night - I think my arm got broken that time.  
  
If you come up here, we can find places to hide. I usually hid in the orchard in the apple trees. It was safe up in a tree - the leaves hid me and the apples smelled good and I could sit on the branches without any problem. I tried to eat all the apples I could, but I always got stomachaches if I ate too many. Those apple trees probably saved my life.  
  
Sorry for the sloppiness of this letter, but I'm writing by a low candle- flame so I won't get noticed by him.  
  
I want to think about other things. It feels cramped here. Other things. Other things like helping you practice for the Quidditch team or studying in the common room or having dinner in the Great Hall and pretend we're throwing food at the Cauldron Heads or Black Potty (you come up with so many nicknames for Black and Potter, it's hard to keep up).  
  
I'm afraid I don't have any plans for break. I should take up some sort of ... well, I could always work on potions, to be honest.  
  
Erm. Why do I expect to see you poking your head in and yelling "Night, Snips!" before running back to the girls' dorms? You've always been too good to me, I really don't deserve you as a friend.  
  
It's quiet. The lights are out. The courtyard is completely black. I don't see any lights shining into the courtyard. The tower I'm in is high and out of the way. I can see if anyone is coming. Nobody's coming. It's going to be quiet tonight.  
  
I wish you were with me. We could hide under the covers and read by wand light or talk all night. I'll make sure I won't accidently pull on your hair. I can't believe I wrote that, hiding under the covers, I mean. But I trust you, that's the only reason I can say that. I trust you beyond anyone in my entire life.  
  
Pray I survive this summer to return to Hogwarts in one piece.  
  
Always,  
  
Snips  
  
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My Snips,  
  
Great Mother, you shouldn't have to be afraid! It hurts me that your first day back home you're wondering if you're going to survive coming back! You will come back! I'll make sure you come back! I'll send a manticore on your nasty father if he does anything to you!  
  
You come down here to Crete right now, Severus Snape! You're freaking me out and I don't like being freaked out! You will take the next train out of Whitshire and the first sail out of South Hampton!  
  
I care for you too much for you to be afraid, even if there are thousands of miles between us. Once we get you down here, you can stay in Klemendis' old room. Mother and Father won't mind, since you'll be with me. And all my siblings say if I want anyone to stay with me from Hogwarts, then they're welcomed to.  
  
Please come down here, Snips? Please, please, please?  
  
Always,  
  
Spirals  
  
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My only friend,  
  
I can't come to see you. I can't even leave the house. Things here are so bad I can't even talk about them. I hate my father so much. All he does is hurt me, like it's a hobby of his. I don't understand why he hates me so much. My mother feels bad and comes afterward and tries to make me feel better but I'm angry at her too.  
  
There's nobody here who can help me. My mother can't stop my father from doing what he wants with me. It makes me sick to even think about it.  
  
In my heart I am with you right now. Where it's dark here, it's light where we are. Where I just lie on my bed and cry, we're running free under beautiful blue skies. Instead of bruises I have hugs from you. Other than that, dear Spirals, there is nothing you can do for me.  
  
Sometimes I want to die really bad but then I think of you and remember that I promised you that I'd see you in the fall. You help keep me going even though my heart is broken. Please don't freak out because I need to tell somebody. Please don't freak out and stop writing to me.  
  
Your friend,  
  
Snips  
  
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Oh, Snips!  
  
I can't stop writing you! You need me, I can't abandon you. And I'll freak out if I want - your father is a horrible, nasty, dirty, evil monster and what he does to you is worse than what my parents don't do. I hope he comes to a bad end in the worst possible way - then you can come down here and live with me!  
  
How could you have ended up in such a family, my Snips? You're my delicate spiderweb - beautiful, deadly, but fragile.  
  
You'll keep going, Snips. We'll be together again in September.  
  
Keep hanging in there. Running in the sunlight. You'll ride the dolphins with me. We'll ride our broomsticks over the hills and valleys. We'll go to the Bull Leaping Games and cheer on my brothers and sisters. I'll feed you lamb (milder than goat) and olives and honey-soaked barley bread. We'll paint frescoes on my bedroom walls.  
  
Could I mail you a bit of sunlight? Maybe I should mail myself. I know enough Earth magic to protect us. We could run back to Hogwarts and hide under Miss Price's skirts - they're large enough to hide us.  
  
Snips, I don't know what to do. If it was with the Queerauders, I could just beat them and we could hex them with a double whammy. This ... we're not together and I can't protect you. AARRGGHHH!  
  
Okay, I feel a little better. But mark my words, if I ever meet your father, I will not hesitate to use a dirty-handed gelding grip on him. You're MY baby, and my baby is never going to be hurt while I breathe. That's why I'm upset.  
  
I'll write you everyday, then. You have to reply back. Dion is such a bore (but he says I've gotten obnoxious), either way, I want to hear from you. I need to hear from you. It's Snips and Spirals forever, you know.  
  
Snips and Spirals Forever. Has a nice ring to it. It's true. It's gonna be us against the world, and the world's going to make a run for its money.  
  
Be safe. Take care of yourself. Write me. I'll always write you.  
  
I want to hug you so hard right now, your eyes will probably pop out. Hug- hug-hug.  
  
Always, forever,  
  
Spirals  
  
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Snips??? Where are you??? I haven't heard from you in two days! Snips!!!  
  
Spirals (worried)  
  
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Spirals,  
  
Don't panic. I'm sorry - I haven't been able to reply. Let me gather my thoughts together and I'll write you a longer letter.  
  
Snips  
  
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Dear Spirals,  
  
Father's gone for a few weeks. I had to assist him and I got extremely sick ... don't ask me about it, please, don't ask me, Spirals. But he's finally gone for a little while. Gods, I need sunshine and your hugs. I'm going to open my windows.  
  
Hazy but bright outside. I hope the haze burns off and the sun comes out later on. I haven't slept in the last two days. Damn him. Damn him and every man who carried the name of 'Snape' for as far back as our founder. Damn them all.  
  
Sorry. I feel terrible. My stomach has been trembling and my head feels tight and my tongue feels like it's covered with fur. Please, please, don't do anything rash, it's too late to do anything right now. He's gone.  
  
He's gone right now, that's enough.  
  
I hear Mother singing. She never sings when he's around. Damn him. Mother has such a beautiful voice. Too bad she won't use it to fight him back.  
  
'Pure Blood is Eternal'. Crock. Scrump. Inbred maggots us 'Purebloods' all.  
  
The sun's breaking through, there's sunlight across my desk. The stained glass windows are making pools of red and blue and green across my parchments and books. It's quite pretty, I wish you could see it, Spirals.  
  
Why you are sitting on my bed right now? You're wearing that shirt with all the spirals all over it and a skirt, and you have a drawing pad in your lap. Your hair is up in that ponitail on top of your head and it's still spilling off the bed. No sunglasses.  
  
Oh, you're gone now. Please don't be an illusion. I don't think I could live if you were an illusion. You can't be. I remember everything, so it can't be, right?  
  
Gods, I stink. Two days without a bath. I need a bath. I'll write more later, dear Spirals. I might fall asleep, though.  
  
Open up the windows, let the sunshine in. I could fall asleep in the sunlight.  
  
Always,  
  
Snips  
  
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	2. Midsummer

CHAPTER TWO:  
  
Dear Snips,  
  
You worry me, you do. Grant me the means, and I'll get you faster than anything you've ever seen before.  
  
Kyros is going nutter on us. He misses his girlfriend from school - you know, Dagmar Campbell. He's talking about moving to Scotland of all places! He says he LIKES it up there! See? He's completely mad. Not sane like the rest of us who like warm weather.  
  
Dion's been helping me with Quidditch practice. He's pretty good on his flying carpet, so he's been throwing old cannon balls at me from every side possible. My backhand's getting pretty good. Still need to practice my forehand hits, so I can surprise them. Might even work my other hand so I can switch the bat over - that will throw them for a loop.   
  
Gwendolen Morgan, the retired Beater from the Holyhead Harpies, is becoming my idol. Madame Hooch gave me her copy of Morgan's autobiography to read over the summer (and suffer the pain of death if I don't return it in good condition - how can she tell? It's quite battered) and it's a fascinating read. Morgan started at Hogwart's, too, on Ravenclaw's team ...  
  
Sorry. I'm becoming a Quidditch fanatic. Never thought I would.  
  
I WANT A COPY OF 'THE BEATERS BIBLE'!  
  
Sorry. Won't happen again.  
  
Priestess-training is going well. Lady Elusia won't allow wands in her temple. Seems strange to go back to learning magic without wands and potions, but it's actually easier to learn everything by note. I wonder if I'll be able to do modern magic this way - you know, the way you adapt potions to make other things, but me being able to adapt modern spells without use of wand or incantations. HA! That reminds me of History of Magic class when Binns was telling us of how Uric the Oddball could work spells with having just dead animals on his head! Maybe I should wear the skin of one of the bulls over my head?  
  
No, can't. I'm only a Junior-Priestess. That's in another five years.  
  
I've been drawing at night. I can't help it. I remember things that I see when I've flying around and think 'I'v got to draw that for Snips, he'd like it'. I'll put together a package for you and send it.  
  
I miss you. I want to hug you again. A few more weeks, my friend.  
  
'Snips and Spirals Forever.'  
  
Eternally,   
  
Spirals  
  
Dear Spirals,  
  
Mother and I have gotten along since Father left. She took me out to the apple orchards and we had lunch together and talked about my classes at school. Talked about a lot of things. Everything except Father. It infuriates me that she tries to be my mother when she can't do anything about Father. I blame you for this - you've proven that Motherhood can also include violent protection of children. If my Mother had even HALF the strength you do, my Father would have been sent to St. Mungo's himself before she and I left.  
  
No chance. Tenebria Lestrange Snape is a cowering mouse. I'm fully believing your 'inbred' theory concerning Purebloods - mental capacity breaking down and other such things - may be the only explanation. It's somewhat annoying how 'normal' the Muggle-borns are are. I don't know whether to feel disgusted or peeved.  
  
I've been keeping busy by getting some extra tutoring by Professor Sartoris. I like his labs, and his potion stores are more extensive than at Hogwarts. It's more exciting than being in a sweets shop, really, since so much can be done - confound the mind, disorient the senses, entrap fame, grab glory, and bring death to its knees. So much can be done with potions, and it could never go awry like incantations can. Gods, this is a glorious science and art borne from magic!  
  
Sorry. I feel the same way about potions as you do about Quidditch. What about Quidditch potions? Perhaps a special solution to allow the brooms to leave colored trails to make following the action easier? Or maybe a broom-repellent for Black and Potter's trousers (that'll work)?  
  
I'd appreciate anything you send me, Spirals. I'm wearing my eyes out by staring at the paintings you gave me.  
  
Are we still going to meet at Diagon Alley? Nothing seems to indicate the schedule will change here. Father considers it a 'bother, annoyance, and bloody nuisance' to take Mother and me with him. He won't be around much, so it'll just be Mother and me shopping for my books and such.  
  
The sun came out for a little while. It was while Mother and I were outside. I just lay back on the grass like we did at school and gazed at the patches of blue that opened up in the clouds. I expected you to be next to me, pointing out how the shapes of the cloud blankets looked like animals or the heads of teachers or something, but you weren't. All I could do was just stare at the blue patches and think of your voice offering theories of why Professor Binns was actually a chunk of cloud who got kicked out of the Cloud Union for being such a drip.  
  
Mother wondered why I was laughing for some reason. She thought I was having a seizure.  
  
It's cloudy again. Wonder if I can whip up a cloud-dispersing potion ...  
  
Write back soon, Spirals.  
  
Always,  
  
Snips  
  
My dearest Snips,  
  
Summer festival has started! That means another month until we see each other again!  
  
I'm so busy right now - I'm sending several of my sketches off to you soon. Busy, busy - taking care of my duties for the festival, then there's helping Isaura with her wedding. Oh, remember I told you about Dorian, Tassos' son? He's a darling little dark-haired boy. He's going to grow into such a heartbreaker. Definitely got it from his mother - Tassos is one of the more beautiful women in the family.  
  
I want you here now! The Summer Festival has everything - bull leaping, rituals, games. We'd have so much fun!  
  
Another month. Just another month. A MONTH TOO LONG.  
  
Phaedra's going to be taking us to Diagon Alley - by Floo. I can't believe it. She said she brought some Floo Powder during a trip to Hogsmeade, and she's practiced at the school. She's going to have the twins and me practice with it around the island first. So there's no excuse for us to miss each other!  
  
Have to get going to evening ritual. Kiss and hug!  
  
Yours,  
  
Spirals  
  
Dear Martis,  
  
Father came home last night. Foul-tempered, too. I stayed up in my room, until I heard him slapping Mother. I had to go down and stop him. There it was, Mother crumpled on the floor with blood coming out of her mouth and Father standing over her with that damned cane.  
  
I pulled out my wand - half-knowing what the hells I was doing - and got hit in the head with the cane. Before I lost consciousness, he ranted about how uselessly ungrateful I am. I didn't hear the rest because I entered Dreamland.  
  
Woke up late this morning with a pounding headache and Mother trying to take care of me. She has another bruise on her cheek, just when the other one was healing up. Bastard. She apologized yet again for his behavior and I said it at last: 'So why the hell won't you leave him, Mother? Or do you like having the shit beat out of you?'  
  
She didn't take it too well. Just got quiet and hung her head down. Familiar, indeed.  
  
At least my hair can hide this bruise.  
  
Gods, I hate this place. I hate my Father. I hate my Mother. I hate England. I hate my life. I hate my existence. I hate everything.  
  
So make a liar of me. Your drawings just arrived. Sunset on Crete, the view of the ocean from inside your room, the entrance to a cave, people leaping over bulls; brilliant colors all over the place, making the world look more wonderful than it really is.   
  
We have to be in different realities. We don't share the same reality. Yours is bright and happy, mine's dark and miserable. If I enter your reality, I'll taint it with my darkness.  
  
Still wonder why you're friends with me. We're from completely different worlds. You'd do better than being around me.  
  
You don't have to meet me. Save the Floo Powder. Go whenever you want.  
  
Severus Snape  
  
Snips,  
  
We are meeting in Diagon Alley. I don't care two knuts about your Father, we're meeting back up again. I expect to see you again, Severus. If you back out, I will hunt you down by Floo. You're not getting rid of me, you got that? It's you and me, hon, no matter what happens where.   
  
Great Mother, I haven't seen my parents the whole freaking time I've been here. I refuse to drown in it. I'm not going to let you drown, either.  
  
We're meeting on the first Saturday of August. We're seeing each other again soon.  
  
With all my love, strength, and nurturing,  
  
Spirals  
  
Dear Martis,  
  
Another ugly day in Paradise. Father had me practice disease-inducing spells on myself today. It was so incredibly creepy watching myself break out with smallpox, or feel my lungs fill up with dyptheria. The man is insane. Although he was there with the counterspell, it was obvious that he was enjoying himself.   
  
Neither one of my parents gives a damn about me. You are the only person in the entire world that cares whether I live or die. Most of the time, I don't care myself. It's only for you that I put one foot in front of the other.  
  
I hope you don't think I'm talking mushy. You're the only one I can cling to, the only one who won't laugh at me. Like I said, you could do a lot better friend-wise than me, but I am grateful you are my friend, Spirals.   
  
I am stealing a little bit of money here and there so we can have a butterbeer or two and get some sugar quills when we get together at Diagon Alley. My parents don't give me any, of course. My father has also started rationing my food -- says it costs too much to feed a big ugly slug (his words, isn't he a charmer?) like me. I think I'm getting taller, Spirals. Well, my pants are getting shorter, at any length. That was a pun -- ha, ha!  
  
I try to escape up here to my room so I can just sit quietly on my bed and look at your pictures. The colors soothe my soul. This place is gray and gloomy -- except for the south wall of my bedroom! And there you are -- sunny and free and full of life, through your paintings.   
  
I like the way you've painted me into some of the pictures. It looks like I'm having fun right along with you in Crete. Such a long way away. Too far away. I can't wait to hug you; I might not ever let you go! Just kidding.   
  
I hear my father calling me. Blast. I'll owl you again tomorrow. Enjoy the sunshine and please don't forget me, Spirals.  
  
Your friend,  
  
Snips 


	3. Diagon Alley

CHAPTER THREE:  
  
A month had finally passed.  
  
His school allowance was even LESS this year, if that was possible. He'd have to buy used books if he wanted another robe, much less any ink or quills or the like. Gods, what was his Father doing with the money he earns?  
  
None of his business.  
  
Sev smoothed out wrinkles from his tunic. Admittedly, Mother was very good at taking his Father's old clothes and altering them for him, but it was becoming pointless since he was shooting up like a weed. The uniform trousers Martis had bought him last Christmas were now several inches above his ankles.  
  
But Mother merely extended the hems by sewing on strips from his First Year uniform. Did the same for the sleeves of his sweaters, too. Gods, why not just make him wear a pillow case or a bunch of tea-cozies like the house-elves? It would be more honest.  
  
And it would not require purification rituals to get the 'funk' out of the converted Snape Senior clothes. Even his Father's old clothes felt creepy, as if they absorbed all the crap Father Snape had done.  
  
Better than nothing at all, Sev supposed. Then that would really scare people. Perhaps even make Martis vomit.  
  
In a few hours, he would be seeing her again. The thought filled him with undue elation and well-deserved guilt. At least a few hours' respite from his Father while the old bastard went down to Knockturn Alley for his own dark deeds. He really should not feel so happy about meeting with a girl, should he? But she was his best friend, a beacon of light in the darkness of his world.  
  
Now, how to get rid of his Mother?  
  
A knock came on the door and Sev went to open it. He knew it was his Mother. His Father never bothered to knock.  
  
"Are you ready, Sev-darling?"  
  
His Mother was still beautiful, despite everything she had been through - tall, slender, long dark hair pulled up into an elegant pile, her body wrapped up in an old-style violet cloak.  
  
Too bad she was such a mouse.  
  
"Yes, Mother. Let me get my list."  
  
Sev folded up his equipment list for his Fourth Year and tucked it into his sleeve as his Mother looked around the room. "Where did all these paintings come from?"  
  
"A friend," Sev answered, pulling his own cloak on.  
  
"Looks like a wonderful place." She gently touched one of the paintings featuring bull leapers and an incredibly large bull they were swinging themselves over.  
  
He nodded, adjusting the clasps. "It's Crete."  
  
"One of my classmates was from Crete," she murmured as they left his room. "She and I got along quite well - we were both in Ravenclaw. People called us the Raven Twins ... she was dark and I was pale, and we both had dark hair. I haven't thought of her in ages. Tassos Vox, that was her name."  
  
Sev said nothing. He knew Martis had a sister named Tassos (keeping track of Martis' siblings was beyond him, but he remembered the name from recent letters), and it was quite likely that his Mother had known a Vox sibling in her youth. Martis freely admitted that her eldest sister Xenia was old enough to be her mother.  
  
Mother and son left the front entrance of the house and climbed into the carriage. The Master of the Snape household slammed the front doors shut behind him, pulling his gloves on in an irritated manner, and tapping the door to the carriage open with his cane. He entered the carriage, his nostrils flaring and his dark eyes threatening pain upon word.  
  
"Not a word," he hissed. "From either of you, understand?"  
  
Sev and his mother nodded, sitting across from him in the carriage. Sev lowered his head so his hair covered his face, not allowing the old man to see his eyes return the loathing with tinges of hate and fear blended together.  
  
Just a few hours.  
  
----------  
  
Martis placed her equipment allowance in her orange money-purse with the gold spirals and scissors printed all over it.   
  
Snips and Spirals, together again. Soon.  
  
"Are we ready, yet?" Artemisia called impatiently.  
  
"Yes!" Martis yelled as she selected a pair of sunglasses with spirals carved around the rims. "Coming!"  
  
She trotted down the stone stairs of her family villa and joined the twins and Phaedra in the dining room in front of the large fireplace. Checking her hair, she made sure it was braided up into a single long braid, tucked into the back of her purple cloak.  
  
"All right," Phaedra said as she flung a side of her cape over her shoulder. "We'll be appearing in the fireplace of the Leaky Cauldron, so be very clear when you say 'Diagon Alley', all right?"  
  
"Right," the twins and Martis answered.  
  
"Who wants to go first?"  
  
"I will," Adonia said. "Someone needs to scope the place out."  
  
Adonia's green robe swirled behind her as she clutched a handful of Floo Powder from Phaedra's dish and entered the fireplace. "DIAGON ALLEY!"  
  
She threw the powder to her feet and she vanished in green flames and a puff of smoke.  
  
"Me, next!" Artemisia cried, performing the same motions. "DIAGON ALLEY!"  
  
After she vanished, Phaedra offered the Floo Powder to Martis. "Your turn, baby sister."  
  
Martis accepted the powder and stepped onto the grate. "DIAGON ALLEY!"  
  
Martis felt the warmth of the Floo Powder slam her body through time and space, at last making her tumble arse-over-teakettle out of the large fireplace of the Leaky Cauldron.  
  
"That always scares the Avernus out of me!" she muttered as she got up.  
  
"Any more Amazon children coming out?" someone in the pub asked.  
  
"One more," Adonia replied. Phaedra appeared in a puff of soot-dust, stepping elegantly out of the fireplace.  
  
Martis looked around, seeing the wizards and witches of the modern world mingling together. She scanned the crowd, looking for Sev, and wondered if her timing had been off. She knew she checked the time-zone calculations several times.  
  
"We're going on shopping," Phaedra said. "You and Snape can join us when he gets here."  
  
"Unless you have other things planned," Adonia teased.  
  
Martis raspberried her sisters. "That's you, not me."  
  
"Granted," Adonia admitted. "I think a round would do him a world of good."  
  
"Oh, shut up and go already!"  
  
The twins giggled hysterically as they left the pub. Martis sat at a table and waited.  
  
There -   
  
She felt her heart stop. Sev's father led the way in, followed by his mother, then himself.  
  
His father was even worse than she imagined. True, Sev had gotten his looks from his father - longish greasy dark hair, hooked nose, stiff upper-lip, long thin limbs and body, and perpetual scowl when angry. Which looked like he was all the time.  
  
And a darkness around him that - instead of reflecting light back - sucked in light and devoured it, making everything around him dim in response so that he was in a constant shadow.  
  
Sev's mother had a fragile beauty about her, which would have suited any other normal aristocratic wife, but looked wildly out-of-place next to her dark husband. She had gorgeous liquid black eyes - the same as Sev's, in fact. And a paleness that made her etheral.  
  
Sev himself had indeed grown several inches over the summer, just as he wrote, which made his large hands and feet look even sillier on his thin frame. He still reminded her of a half-grown puppy.  
  
Their eyes met, despite the curtain of hair across his face. Martis got up, but he discreetly raised his hand to halt her. She glanced at his parents, his father moving quickly across the pub and out the door, while his mother lingered at the bar.  
  
Unable to take it, Martis bounded across the room and wrapped Sev up in a tight hug. "SNIPS!"  
  
Sev hugged her back as tightly. "Oh, Gods, it's so good to see you again," he breathed.  
  
She kissed his cheek, not caring how many adults cleared their throats in the vicinity. "I was so afraid you wouldn't be able to make it!"  
  
"Same here," he replied. He hugged her again. "You smell like soot."  
  
"Traveled by Floo." She brushed hair out of his face. "I missed you so much - "  
  
He smiled slightly. "It was a nightmare. But we have a few hours - "  
  
"Excuse me," a quiet, feminine voice said. "Sevvie, would you introduce your friend to me?"  
  
Sev's face flushed as he looked up at his mother. Actually, met at eye-level, as they were both now the same height. His smile faded and his hair fell back in his face as he released Martis. "Mother, my friend Spirals from school. Spirals, my mother Tenebria Snape."  
  
Martis forcefully stuck her hand out, her sunglasses hiding most of the glare. "Pleased to meet you at last, Mrs. Snape," she intoned in a heavy voice.  
  
"Spirals, please," Sev whispered.  
  
Sev's mother shook the girl's hand. "Sevvie's told me about you."  
  
Martis' polite smile turned up into a teeth-baring snarl. "Really? Has he also informed you that I know how to use a double-axe against people who hurt him?"  
  
"Spirals!" Sev snapped.  
  
His mother turned to him, her eyes wide in panic. "Oh, Severus, you didn't - "  
  
"It's hard to hid the bruises, Mother," he said quietly. He turned back to his glaring best friend. "Spirals, please, she's more defenseless than I am."  
  
"No excuse," Martis spat, leaning close to the older woman. "In my homeland, the women know how to fight back. Protection of babies beyond anything else. Anyone who strikes a defenseless child is hunted down and killed like a rabid dog." The glare was slightly muted by the glasses, but it could be felt within several feet. "You should be lucky that he has me to protect him as school or else - "  
  
"Spirals, that's enough," Sev stated as he grabbed her arm. "Let's go."  
  
Martis snorted. "My apologies for scaring you, Mrs. Snape. But please note that somebody gives a damn about your son's welfare. Good day."  
  
She allowed Sev to drag her out into the courtyard. He tapped out the pattern on the bricks with his wand and the entry to Diagon Alley appeared.  
  
"Your mother is the most cowardly woman I ever met!" Martis ranted. "At least mine doesn't bother with me at all."  
  
Sev pulled her through, allowing them to blend into the busy street. "Forget about it, Martis. I want to forget about my family for a little while. Please."  
  
"All right." She smiled again and pulled her hair out of the braid, allowing it to fall freely down to her knees. Soot sprinkled down to the street. "Where shall we go first, Snips?"  
  
"Bookstore," he said. "I need to find some used Fourth-Year books."  
  
"Used?" she repeated. "Your cinchy father?"  
  
"Who else?" They entered Flourish and Blotts. "Textbooks are always so expensive, even when used. I hope I have enough leftover for a new robe."  
  
She giggled, pressing against his back. "Yep, you need a new one, now I only come up to your ears. You're becoming a giant."  
  
"I am not," he protested. "Please, get off me."  
  
She pouted. "Waah, Snips doesn't love me anymore! You used to take me out all the time!"  
  
He stared at her in horror, then saw the grin threatening to split her face open. He giggled a little, then both broke into laughter.  
  
"Where did that come from??" he snickered.  
  
"An old joke," she giggled. "Commonly said by Muggle wives. Come on, let's find our books."  
  
----------  
  
An hour later, both had gotten more ink and a few quills, then they made their way to Ollivander's Wands.  
  
"Since three-eighty-two, B.C." Martis opened the door to the wand shop. "I wonder if it's been the same Mr. Ollivander or he's merely the grandson of the original?"  
  
Sev giggled. "One never asks."  
  
The proprietor himself appeared. "Mr. Snape!" he said. "And Miss Vox. Didn't expect to see you two here. Both lost your wands at once?"  
  
"No," Martis said. "I just wanted to thank you for helping me pick my wand last year. It's absolutely wonderful."  
  
"Ah, yes, the oak with the dragon heartstring, exactly ten inches. Yes, a very Earthy wand. I felt it was suitable considering your magical background and family. Most all the Vox's do well with oak or mahogany. I am so glad it worked out for you." He turned to Sev. "And Mr. Snape - an ebony with dragon heartstring, ten-and-a-half inches long. How is yours working out?"  
  
"Quite well, sir," Sev answered. "Too well at times."  
  
The old man nodded, an eyebrow raised. "I suppose that must be acceptable. Anything else I may do for you?"  
  
Martis dug in her cloak and placed a package on the counter. "Here's some baklava I made by hand. No magic involved. At least this batch didn't turn out as granola."  
  
"Why, thank-you, Miss Vox." He unwrapped the package and inhaled the scents of honey and spices. He glanced down at them. "So, I shall expect to see your children in here in fifteen years or so?"  
  
Sev blushed while Martis grinned. "Who knows?" she replied. "Thanks again, Mr. Ollivander."  
  
Both left the wand shop and headed toward the robe shop.  
  
"What did he mean 'your children'?" he asked. "He was referring to us, right?"  
  
"Either of us," she answered. "I know I'm going to have children. If you do or not, that's up to you - although, I warn you, it's very painful to give birth."  
  
Sev laughed. "That would be a ... hoot." He entered the robe shop behind her.  
  
"Hey, baby sister!" Artemisia called. She was being fitted for a robe while Phaedra was going through the racks and Adonia was somewhere else in the shop. "I see you found Snape. How you doing, Severus? Ready for school yet?"  
  
"Practically," he answered.  
  
"Just need to find him a nice but cheap robe," Martis answered.  
  
The bell to the shop rang and Lucius Malfoy entered. "Oh, dear, dear," he commented. "Seems they let the shop go downhill by allowing all of you in."  
  
Martis rolled her eyes behind her sunglasses. "Good afternoon, Lucy, did you escape your keeper?"  
  
He snorted, stepping up on the stool next to Artemisia as a shop assistant began to fit him for robes. "Hardly. Merely doing my own school shopping. I left my assistants Crabbe and Goyle outside, so they are probably raiding the sweets shop as we speak."  
  
Phaedra made a rude noise involving her tongue. "Great Mother, Malfoy, why do you have Tweedledum and Tweedledork nipping at your heels all the time? For a devious mastermind, you pick the stupidest henchmen."  
  
Martis and Sev covered their mouths to keep the laughter in. Lucius once stuck his foot down his gullet by calling Phaedra a 'mudblooded-barbarian' (not knowing her family line at the time) and got his perfect butt handed to him by herself, Kyros, and Klemendis.  
  
"That is none of your concern, Miss Phaedra," he answered. He turned to find Artemisia staring at him. "What are you looking at?"  
  
Artemisia poked his shoulder a couple of times, then turned to Adonia. "Hey, Doni, what do you think of pretty-boy here? An eight?"  
  
Adonia poked her head out from a robe. "Nah, a five. He reeks of plastics."  
  
Lucius Malfoy was quite certain they were insulting him, although he was not sure what 'plastics' implied. "Don't you two have some pornographic photography to pose for or something?"  
  
"Make it a four," Artemisia stated. "Good looking and delicious on the outside, but has a large staff up his - "  
  
Martis and Sev broke into hard laughter before Artemisia could finish.  
  
Lucius merely finished his measuring, then left the shop.  
  
Sev's turn. He stepped up on the stool and Madame Malkin began measuring. Eyeing his altered clothes carefully, she coolly asked, "Perhaps we can get you a longer robe this year, taking up the hems for now and you can take them down as the year progresses?"  
  
"Yes, thank you. A used one?"  
  
She shook her head. "I don't sell used, but I have a new one discounted because of the problem of being too long. Will you also need the under-uniform?"  
  
"No," he answered.  
  
She bit her lip and slipped the robe on him, leaning down to start tacking.   
  
Martis waited for her turn, going through the rack of uniform skirts, pleated and all in gray. Something longer. She grew this summer, as well, and it seems the only thing that got longer were her legs.  
  
Not to mention her Moon Time started at last.  
  
She looked up at Sev standing still as the witch worked on his hems. Ollivander's comment about 'their children' coming to buy wands from him bothered her more than she let on. It implied things she did not want to think about.  
  
For one thing, it meant having actual contact with Sev's parents. She could probably stand his mother if the lady grew a backbone, but that did not seem likely. And his father's darkness radiated off him and made the very air around him unclean. Nothing she wanted her own children around.  
  
For another, it meant ...  
  
Nothing. She pushed it out of her mind. She was only twelve. Nothing to worry about at this time.  
  
She pulled out another package of baklava and nibbled a bit at the honey, pastry, and nuts. She made a face. "Too much clove."


	4. Snips and Spirals Reunited

Chapter 4 - Snips and Spirals Reunited  
  
The crowd of students in front of the Quality Quidditch Supply shop made it impossible for Martis and Sev to get in.   
  
"What's the deal?" Sev asked.  
  
"I think Nimbus came out with their next model," Martis answered, trying to push her way in. "I've wanted a look at it myself while I'm in here."  
  
"If we can get in," Sev muttered as someone jostled him.   
  
Martis turned full around and poked him in the chest. "Bother!"  
  
He caught on and poked her shoulder. "Bother!"  
  
"Bother!"  
  
"Bother!"  
  
"Bother!"  
  
"Bother!"  
  
"Bother!"  
  
This went on for another minute until people began clearing away in disgust at their behavior. Martis and Sev finally quieted down and entered the shop.  
  
"Great Mother," she sighed, hugging him. "I missed doing that! We'll have to do it around Lucy next time, hopefully with Nasty-issa in the room, too."  
  
"Certainly," Sev answered. He glanced at the newest broom model on display. "Nimbus 1001 - quite a beauty."  
  
"Drool," Martis said aloud, gazing in rapture at the broom. "I wish I had a few more galleons, I'd get it for this year. You know my sister Phaedra gave me her 1000 when I played that one time on our house team."  
  
"I was wondering where you got your own broom."  
  
"It was hers. She said it served her faithfully her first year as Ravenclaw's Chaser."  
  
Sev caressed the handle, feeling the spells within the Quidditch broom. "Very nice." Images of Martis playing Slytherin's Beater again flashed through his mind, backhanding Bludgers into Gryffindors Sirius Black and James Potter. It brought a smirk to his lips. "You have to do tryouts again this year."  
  
"You're doing them with me," she retorted. "I've seen you fly - you've gotten better over spring term."  
  
"No. I'm not Quidditch material. You are."  
  
She hugged him around the waist. "Suit yourself. I just thought it would be nice for both of us to do tryouts - make Potter and his lover Black their turn to sweat."  
  
Sev laughed. "The image that brought to mind is quite disgusting."  
  
"Well, it intrigues me to no end," she admitted. "Come on, I need to find some padding and armor in my shape. Nearly killed myself that one game because I was wearing Phaedra's and she's slightly wider on top than I am. At this point."  
  
----------  
  
A little while later, Martis and Sev were sharing a sundae at the ice cream parlor across from Gringott's Bank.  
  
"How much longer do you have?" she asked.  
  
"About a half hour," Sev answered. "Then it's back home with them." He reached across the table and squeezed her hand, his face flushed. "I want you to continue writing me when we get back."  
  
"Of course I will," she answered. She turned his hand over and caressed her fingertips over his palm. "I promised I would for the whole summer." She suddenly looked up. "Snips, want to come with us? Phaedra has enough Floo Powder for all of us to go back home to Crete, it'd be no trouble at all - "  
  
He dropped his spoon and clasped her hand in both of his. "No! I can't go. I can't drag your family into my family's problems. I won't have my Father hurt you or your sisters because of me."  
  
"He won't get very far," Martis started, jutting her jaw out. "It's not fair. You shouldn't have to stay with him."  
  
"I have to," Sev said quietly. "He's my father. And given the chance, I would run to Crete with you. I really have nothing here."  
  
"Then why do you stay?"  
  
He looked away. "Obligations. Besides, he could locate me anywhere. The monster wouldn't let an island full of warriors get in his way."  
  
Martis put her spoon down and picked his face up with her hands. "Then we'll meet again at Hogwarts. All we have to worry about are the Maraudiots and that can be dealt with." She brushed hair out of his face. "My fragile Snips ... "  
  
He lowered his dark eyes, not wanting her to see the anxiety in them. He wanted to pull her into a corner and just hold each other again. He had craved her touch all summer, realizing how addicted he became to her hugs. Just hold each other and never let go, not for anything.  
  
Ridiculous, he decided.  
  
His eyes flickered up and he caught sight of the figures of Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black walking down the street. "Wonder what they're up to?"  
  
Martis turned toward the window and observed the blonde pair make their way across the street toward the ice cream parlor, then off down the sidewalk again.  
  
"Isn't Knockturn Alley a door or two down?" she asked.  
  
"Yes." He saw the spark of an adventure forming in her smirk. "Oh, no, Martis, you don't want to go to Knockturn Alley; it's where all the Dark Arts shops are and - "  
  
"We're just doing a little spying," she said as she got up and deposited her part of the payment on the counter.  
  
Sev added his own. "No, Spirals, we can't, you don't know what's down there."  
  
"Well, it'd be no different than Diagon Alley," she concluded as they exited the parlor.  
  
"That's not what I mean, Martis! Damn it, come back here, you won't be able to survive down there!"  
  
He dashed after her long ash-blonde hair as it swished about her cloak.  
  
Both teens made their way down the steps and into the darkest, dingiest alley Martis had ever seen.  
  
"What's that smell?" Martis whispered, surprised to find herself whispering.  
  
"Biological rot," Sev answered, grasping the back of her cloak. "Please, Martis, we have to go back. My Father goes down here. If he finds me down here, he'll do worse things than breaking my arms and splitting my head open."  
  
She pulled his hood up over his head. "Then shut up." She spotted a flash of white-blonde hair. "There they go."  
  
"We're going to die if we stay down here."  
  
"These people are going to die if they don't get out of my space," Martis muttered, glaring at one man with a bright blue beard who was licking his lips at them.  
  
Martis dragged Sev to a shop window, looking in on Lucius Malfoy (in his expensive black cape) and Narcissa Black (in a pretty silver-blue cloak) as they bought candles from the shopkeeper. "Hm. Red candles covered in honey and cinnamon."  
  
Sev swallowed. "I don't want to know what those are for."  
  
"I know what those are for. I wonder why that would be considered Dark magic?"  
  
"What are they used for?"  
  
"Lust spells, mostly."  
  
"That's why. Underage Wizarding Laws won't allow them to be sold to minors."  
  
"Oh." She smirked. "Now we have to do our duty to - "  
  
Hands clapped down on their shoulders, causing both to gasp.   
  
"Ans what," a strong, feminine voice said. "Are two young children like yourselves doing in Knockturn Alley?"  
  
Both looked up to see a thirty-ish woman with frizzy brown hair and wearing jeans and a green cape looking down at them. Next to her was a man about the same age with long red hair pulled back in a ponytail and wearing a non-descript brown suit under his maroon cape.  
  
Martis and Sev began babbling at once as the two escorted them back toward the juncture to Diagon Alley.  
  
The woman turned to the man with her. "I can't believe these are our professors."  
  
He grinned in a fatherly way. "They had to start somewhere, didn't they? Good thing they look like their kids. Easy to spot."  
  
"Sure," the woman snorted. "Except he doesn't have the spiky hair and the skull t-shirt like Junior. Just what do you think you two were doing?"  
  
"Spying on some classmates buying lust candles," Martis answered, now knowing these two were not Dark wizards. The familiarity the two adults showed with each other reminded her of married couples on Crete.  
  
The redheaded man sighed. "Bloody hell. I didn't ask for this job."  
  
"No, it was given to you." The woman released Martis as the man released Sev in Diagon Alley. "Stay out of trouble you two, I mean it."  
  
The man added brightly, "And watch out for a guy whose name rhymes with 'Baldimort'."  
  
The woman gazed at him. "If you weren't so good in the sack, I'd slam you into a wall." She looked down at the confused Martis and Sev. "You owe me one - remember that."  
  
They walked off. The man snorted. "They owe you? HA! The great Hermie telling me not to do any warnings, but it's okay for you to set yourself up for a favor from those two?"  
  
"Shut up, Ronny."  
  
"That's Snape and Vox," he complained as they blended into the mob of shoppers.  
  
Martis and Sev looked at each other, looked in the direction where the two people vanished, then looked at each other again.  
  
"All right," Martis said. "Not the weirdest thing I've heard, but the weirdest I've witnessed."  
  
"I don't want to think about it," Sev added. "I'm going to have to go soon."  
  
Both walked slowly back up the street to the Leaky Cauldron. "The invitation is still open."  
  
"And the invitation would be accepted, you know that." He gently reached his arm out and pulled her close as they walked. "We're still going to meet on the train to school."  
  
"Nothing will stop that," she agreed. "Then us against the world again."  
  
"Snips and Spirals Forever."  
  
"Eternally." She hugged his shoulders and stood on tip-toe to kiss his cheek, whispering, "Take care of yourself, Sev. I'll be waiting."  
  
He nodded, hugging her again before he tapped his wand against the bricks of the wall. The wall opened up into the courtyard behind the Leaky Cauldron and Sev turned around, waving at her, forcing himself to smile.  
  
She waved back, also smiling, even though he could see the tears starting to leak from under her sunglasses as the bricks shifted back into place.  
  
He entered the pub and found his Mother sitting by herself at a table, his few packages in a chair near her. He covered his face with his hair and sat across from her.  
  
She looked up. "She cares for you, doesn't she?"  
  
Sev allowed a strand of hair to slip away, one dark eye staring back at her. "Yes."  
  
His Mother shifted uncomfortably. "Quite fiercely, I must say."  
  
"Her mother doesn't give a rat's dropping about her," he stated. "Her siblings have had to raise her. Where she got the idea of Protective Motherhood is beyond me."  
  
"She is right, you know."  
  
"How would you know?"  
  
"Because I'm not a fierce creature like that. I've never had it in me. I was going to devote my life to study, not marry or have children or anything."  
  
Sev looked down again. "So, even if given a choice, you wouldn't have had me, anyway."  
  
"Sadly, yes."  
  
"And you hate my very existence."  
  
"No."  
  
He looked up at her, surprised. "Why not? Father forced you into marriage and having me and you're stuck with us. You never had enough spine to take me and leave. Or even leave yourself."  
  
"Because you're my baby. And he's your father. And I am the Lady of Snape Manor."  
  
Sev felt disgust. "Keeping up appearances. Great one, Mother. Great excuse."  
  
"I know you hate me, Sevvie, I can't change that. But it's still the both of us under your father's foot, not just you."  
  
He looked up at her sharply. "Why is he always 'my' father? Why can't you call him 'your' husband? Or better yet 'our' Godly Master? This whole damn charade of poor aristocratic Purebloods makes me sick! Once I become of age, don't be surprised if he's on the end of the worst Unforgivable."  
  
She set her mouth. "Please take that back."  
  
"I'd think the old bastard would appreciate the challenge. Probably half-expecting it; if he didn't with the way he's been teaching me, then he's stupid as well as evil." He pulled his hair back from his face. "And, Mother, given the chance - yes, I would follow my friend to the ends of the Earth to get away from this cesspit. Nothing is worth the crap I've been through. At least with her I'm a human being rather than a punching bag apprentice."  
  
"He's coming," his mother said quietly.  
  
Confutatis Maledictis Snape swept over to the table, his ravenhead cane clutched tightly in his leather-gloved hand. "Time to leave." He glanced at the packages. "Surprised you found so much. Thriftiness is a virtue. Come along."  
  
Mother and son got up and exchanged the look that the patriarch was in a good mood, then made their way out of the Leaky Cauldron and into their carriage.  
  
Sev felt the pockets inside his robe, and his fingers enclosed over a small silver trinket box Martis had bought him in the junk shop. The silver felt cooling to the touch. She said it was for him to put in anything he wanted. So he asked for a lock of her hair, which was tied with a gold ribbon and placed inside the box before they left the shop. 'There,' she had said. 'Now I'll always be with you.'  
  
He clutched the silver box and smiled behind his hair. 


	5. A Friend in Need

CHAPTER FIVE: A Friend in Need  
  
Dear Spirals,  
  
Freedom again! Father's going to be gone until after I leave for school! Thank the Gods! Now I can go to school without bruises or broken anything!  
  
Two more weeks. I think I can survive two more weeks.  
  
We have to come up with prank ideas for the Drool Brigade for this year. Have you thought up anything for the Ultimate Prank yet? The sun is actually out today. The entire countryside is bathed in gold light and the grasses seem like an emerald green. The apple orchards are outside my east window and I really can't describe to you how incredible the sight is, with the red and gold apples shining in the sunlight against the dark green leaves. It makes me happy, it's so pretty.  
  
I have to go outside before it clouds up again. Miss you much. See you soon.  
  
Snips  
  
----------  
  
Dear Snips,  
  
Isaura had her wedding. It was huge, nearly everyone on the island was invited (I was told it was because of Mother and Father's influence, but I've yet to see any of that myself) and I was the Maiden for the ceremony.  
  
My friend Dion and I danced together even though he was a full foot taller than me and looked down at me a lot. He annoys me so much because he acts way too much like a boy. At least when you act like a boy you don't rub it in my face. I'm tempted to paint 'Dion's a Drooling Macho Git' in English on the outside wall of his bedroom. I just might.  
  
Yay, the Evil Overlord Snape is gone. Nasty bugger. Yes, you need to run around in the sun as much as possible. The Great Mother knows you need it.  
  
As for the Ultimate Prank ... nothing yet. I'm quite sure once I'm in their noxious presence again, the Marauding Menagerie will inspire something. That's where a lot of my original prank idea came from, just being around them. They provide so much fodder. Almost like hexing fish in a barrel.  
  
Another week, my friend, then it's Snips and Spirals Part Two. Our Five Part Series will culminate into your graduation ceremony, very likely involving at least three different types of goat cheese and the Marauders' underpants. (Laughs.) By then, I should be able to figure out how to sneak into their drawers and wreak some merry havoc.  
  
It'll be glorious once we're together again, you'll see. I have to go - I thought I just heard Artemisia yell at Adonia about sleeping with her best friend. This is odd, considering Artemisia's best friend is female, as is Adonia.  
  
Write more later.  
  
Hug and kiss.  
  
Spirals  
  
----------------  
  
Sev tucked the letters away under the loose floorboard of his room. Any more letters, he thought, and the downstairs parlor ceiling beneath will probably cave in.  
  
It was early morning, and it was cloudy again. Again and again, cloudy. Why was it always sunnier at Hogwarts?  
  
The slam of a door downstairs made him jump out of his skin. The slamming of doors always scared the hell out of him.  
  
Heart pounding, he quickly got up and went to his desk, pulling a potions book out - Just as the door to his bedroom swung open, striking the wall hard enough to make the wood around the lock crack.  
  
Framed in the doorway was his father with nostrils flaring, his face nearly purple, his eyes burning, and his lips set in a thin straight line. His entire body was erect, trembling in barely controlled rage.  
  
"YOU USELESS PIECE OF -"  
  
Sev did not hear the rest of the sentiment as his father's hand smashed into the side of his head, knocking him out of the chair and sprawling him on the floor. Sev felt everything inside his head rearrange itself, sloshing around the blossoming pain. He instinctively tried to crawl away, seeking the darkness under his bed.  
  
His father picked him up by his long hair, forcing him to stare him in the face. "You were never going to tell me about Knockturn Alley, were you?" Confutatis Maledictis Snape hissed. "Of how you and a little girl were escorted out by a pair of Aurors!"  
  
Sev opened his mouth to respond and received a mouthful of his father's fist.  
  
"NO EXCUSES! What did you tell them?!"  
  
----------  
  
Dear Martis,  
  
I hope this arrives before you leave.  
  
He did it again. The bastard ... He came back early.  
  
Beat the crap out of me, and then put several curses on me. Oh, hells.  
  
He knows about us going into Knockturn Alley. And those people that took us out were Aurors. The monster was afraid I had told them about him. I couldn't even tell him that I never got a word in edgewise anyway, but he was too busy making sure I understood how much trouble I was going to put him in.  
  
I went unconscious at some point. Probably between the cruciatus curse and the hits to the solar plexus. He trashed my room after that. All of your drawings and paintings were destroyed. He tore each one into little pieces, and then threw the pieces at me. I'm so sorry.  
  
I can hardly move. The pain in my left shoulder is unbelievable. Father refused to summon a healer for me because he was afraid they would know it was him who hurt me.  
  
Yukie, one of the house-elves, is helping me out. She brought me parchment, quills, and ink -- that's how I'm writing to you. My handwriting is awful – sorry it isn't more legible. The cruciatus makes you twitch. For a long time.  
  
Mother tried her comfort crap. I told her it'd be more comfortable if she got rid of Father. Cowering mouse. I know molds that put up a better fight.  
  
He doesn't know about you. You were identified as a 'little girl' and forgotten. Still, I fear for you. He is very skilled in the Dark arts and there is no end to his vengeance and hate. Watch yourself, Martis.  
  
Oh, Gods. I still feel terrible. I hope I'm well enough to get on the train.  
  
Might have to visit Nurse Pomfrey; I think he may have fractured my clavicle this time. The pain is awful but the only thing I can do is to cry over it, and my eyes were blackened pretty good so salty tears definitely don't help.  
  
Please, please, please be there on the train. I'll probably kill myself if you're not there.  
  
Please, please, please be there. Martis! Please!  
  
I need to sleep again.  
  
The bastard destroyed all of your pictures. What kind of sick monster does that? Answer: Confutatis Maledictis Snape. Gods, I hate him.  
  
Please be on the train, Martis. I need you.  
  
Severus Snape  
  
----------  
  
Martis clenched her teeth, breathing slowly through them to keep herself from sobbing. She placed the last letter from Sev on her desk, reading over the whole thing again.  
  
"Fine," she breathed in a cold voice. "If he wants me, he can try and get me; I'll be ready with a battle-axe and a piece of my mind."  
  
She pressed her palms down on her desk, trying to steady herself as she shook in her own rage.  
  
"And I wish he would - then he'll know nobody hurts my Severus."  
  
Martis prayed for Sev's safety as she began to pack her trunks for the trip back to Hogwarts, wishing the time would hurry so she could hold him and protect him again.  
  
-End 


End file.
